Chapter Eleven

D ressed in the best neoprene wetsuit on the market and a diving mask on his face, Kasey exited the trailer. White mountains surrounded them. The sun peeked through puffy white clouds. The days were transitioning from summer to winter. Soon the continent would be draped in darkness for months. Antarctica had no fall or spring, only summer and winter.

The Hunter Kase crew had graciously been invited to use the Doorman Research Facility while shooting, but it was miles away from this penguin colony. Workers from the facility drove them in the winterized trailer to this spot. Although they’d flown in yesterday, they hoped to complete the shoot and fly to Argentina tonight. The entire crew agreed to this location, yet no one wanted to stay longer than necessary. Three cameramen had been taking turns getting footage of the penguins on the ice since the sun rose. Because of the extreme temp, a person could only stay outside for thirty minutes.

Luckily, their entry point into the water was close. Kasey put the scuba mouthpiece into his mouth to check the tank air.

“I thought it might be too cold to smell anything out here.” Beau set the tank on Kasey’s back. “Until we got to this area. This might be the worst stench I’ve ever come across.”

Kasey couldn’t smell anything in the mask.

“I warned you.” Lilly descended from the trailer, dressed in white.

“Don’t get lost or fall,” Kasey warned her. “You’ll be indistinguishable from the snow.”

“Yeah, I should’ve chosen a different color.” She shivered.

In an unspoken agreement, he and Harper concentrated on work. As much as he’d like to think he was the reason for the show being a hit, he wasn’t a fool. She’d discovered him, and the success of the show came from her ingenuity, ideas, and promotion. He didn’t agree with everything she did, the proposal refusal newsreel a prime example, but she found ways to make viewers, lots of viewers, watch each season.

“I’ve never been so cold.” She bounced on her toes. “No one would blame you if you changed your mind about going into the water.”

“We didn’t come all this way for nothing.” He spun toward Simpson. “Let’s go.”

“Swim up next to a penguin, and then we’re out of there.”

“No longer than twenty minutes in the water, gentlemen.” Lilly darted back inside the trailer.

Penguins slid into the water and catapulted out at a constant pace. He’d learned the animals stayed on shore for three weeks and out in the water for the same amount of time. However, there were so many of them, they were in a constant state of influx and outflux.

Two of the camera crew came out of the trailer and filmed Kasey and Simpson dropping into the water.

Expecting to be shocked by the temperature of the water, Kasey didn’t feel cold at all.

Simpson began filming immediately. The bright light attached to the camera illuminated the water.

“They’re so cute.” Lilly’s voice crackled over the headphones.

As Kasey gave the viewers information, the penguins kept their distance. After a while, one circled Kasey. It looked smaller than the others. The bird lifted almost to the surface and looked back. It turned around and circled Kasey’s head this time, then nudged him on the shoulder.

He laughed. “I guess it’s telling me to ‘come on.’” Intrigued, he swam as fast as he could. “I can’t possibly keep up. It’s going so fast.”

“Kasey,” Beau warned. “You’ve been in the water fifteen minutes. Time to wrap it up.”

The tiny penguin who’d made friends with him skirted around a penguin toward the bottom who was flailing his right flipper while the left didn’t move.

“What’s wrong with that little guy?” He pointed to the floundering bird “What should I do?”

“Get out of the water,” Beau urged.

“He can’t leave the poor creature,” Lilly argued. “It looks hurt.”

“We’ll send someone else down,” Beau insisted.

“Just tell me what to do.” Kasey swam downward. Suddenly, the coldness registered in his body, taking his breath away. Damn . He swam harder, hoping to warm up.

No luck. All he was doing was making it harder to breathe. He kept his focus on the injured animal, ignoring how his body now shivered.

The penguin’s good flipper jerked back and forth quicker the closer Kasey got.

“Kasey, Jerico here,” a scientist stationed at Doorman said. “It might be docile or it could try to fight you, but if it does, it shouldn’t be able to do much damage. Try to wrap your arms around it from the back so it can’t attack with its beak.”

“What about other penguins?” Lilly inquired.

“If his parents aren’t around, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“And if they are?” Kasey swam up behind the bird.

Jerico quietly uttered, “Let’s just hope they’re not.”

~

W hen the last bell rang, Amanda pulled her phone out of her purse and checked her messages. Seeing one from Kasey, she opened it. I’m not sure when you’ll receive this, but please know whether I make it back from this frozen-ass tundra or not, and with all my body parts or not, it’s been nice, really nice, spending time with you. And I take pride knowing that, even in my season of celibacy, I was your virgin country dance and camping companion.

Amanda took a quick intake of breath. She read through his words again, slower this time. She couldn’t believe his text made her so giddy. He’d only been gone a week, but it felt like a month. Not sure if she liked the idea of how much she missed him, she couldn’t help wanting to see his smiling eyes. He’d taken such good care of her when she was sick.

I must say, Mr. Hunter, you have a way with words and know how to make a girl feel special while potentially saying goodbye forever. I do hope you make it back and, in the most platonic way, with all your body parts.

She drove to the Hunters’ house and knocked. Marisol opened the door. “Amanda, are you here for a Tai Chi lesson?”

“I came by to bring your grandmother a book, but if you have time for a lesson, that would be awesome.”

“I do.” The child led her to the kitchen.

Shelly stood at the stove stirring inside a pot. The whole house smelled like spicy chili. She turned from the stove. “Hi, dear. What a nice surprise.”

“I have something for you.” Amanda lifted a book from her purse and held it out.”

A gasp escaped Shelly. “How did you get this?”

The much-anticipated thriller wouldn’t be in stores for another couple of months. “I’m part of Sara Wright’s advanced reader team. I got it yesterday.”

Shelly held the book like it was a precious treasure. “I’m sure you want to read it first.”

“I did,” Amanda grinned.

“You finished it in a day?”

“Couldn’t put it down.”

“I can’t wait.” Shelly walked over and carefully placed it on the side table. “I’ll return it as soon as I’m done.”

“No. Give it to someone else to enjoy.”

“I have a friend going through chemo. She would love it.”

“Good. I heard from Kasey today,” Amanda shared.

“How is he?”

“From the text message he sent, he’s freezing cold—”

“Shelly,” a man called. He strolled into the room with a red face and sweat dripping from his forehead. Tall and thin, the man had salt and pepper hair clipped short.

“Yes, dear,” Shelly answered.

“Where—” he hesitated when he spotted Amanda. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Amanda, this is my husband, Rafe.”

When she’d come for book club she hadn’t seen him.

He smiled, and she was struck by how alike his smile was to Kasey’s. Such a welcoming smile. “Pleasure to meet you. Forgive me for not shaking your hand, I’m dirty as hell.”

“Amanda heard from Uncle K. He’s freezing,” Marisol interjected.

“Of course, he is. Did you know no one lives in Antarctica because it’s too cold? The only people who go to the South Pole are scientists doing studies and people who want to say they’ve made it there.” Rafe sighed. “I swear that boy has a death wish.”

~

O nce Amanda arrived home, as she stowed the food she’d bought at the store on the way, her phone rang. She smiled at seeing Kasey’s name. “I feared you might not call because you have hypothermia.”

“I feared the same thing. When did you get the message?”

“Earlier today.”

“I sent it two days ago.”

“How close did you get to the penguins?”

“Really close. I actually carried one to the surface. It had a broken flipper.”

Her insides melted a little. “It let you?”

“It didn’t have a choice. We left it with the Doorman scientists. They were jazzed to rehab it.”

“That’ll make a great show.”

“Hope so.”

“Your dad mentioned he thought you had a death wish.”

“I wonder the same thing sometimes. When did you see my dad?” he asked.

“Earlier today. I brought a book to your mom and Marisol gave me another lesson in Tai Chi.”

“Bet she loved bossing you around.”

She laughed. “She does seem to like to tell people what to do.”

“How was the rest of your day?”

“Busy. Testing starts in a couple of weeks, and I don’t like this time of year. I understand testing a student on what they know is the only way to gauge if they’re learning. Even so, I hate it for kids who don’t test well.”

“I did much better with oral quizzes,” he admitted.

“That’s understandable with your ADHD. We do lots of oral testing these days.” With a glance out the window, she banged on it.

“What’s happening?”

“I’m trying to scare away squirrels. They made a hole in the eave on the corner by my bedroom and nested in the attic. You’d swear there were hundreds of them.”

“They’re still in there?”

“No. I called a pest control company. They removed them and fixed the eave. I just don’t want them to try again.”

“I could’ve done that for you.”

“Only if you were here.” How many times had she said those same words to Barry? Too many. Way too many. “Where are you?”

“In Argentina at Los Glaciares National Park. They’re calling my name. I’ve got to go. I’ll call when I’m back in town. Bye.”

At first, her heart leapt, thrilled at the prospect of seeing him again and even more excited he wanted to see her. Then her heart sank. She couldn’t let herself fall for him.

She’d already tried to live life with a man who traveled all the time and was never around.

It’d been a disaster.

“As your feelings for someone grow stronger, so does your fear of losing them.” ~ Unknown